Self-polishing wax composition



Patented Jan. 2, 1951 STATES PATENT G FFICE 25365349 4 SELF-R-QLISHI'NG WAXQMUZBOSITIDN-J Helen P. Brush Painesvill'e, Ohio, assignor, li3 mesnezassi'gnments; to E. Bruce: Gompany; Memphis, Tenm, a: cooperation of Delaware No. Drawing-i Application-April 25,.1-9M-5;

S'eriaLNo. 74.4,,028

1.; This invention relates; to; surface coating; and preserving compositions and more particularly relates to. liquid, non-aqueous coating compositions; comprising; highly chlorinated organic materialsand to methods for making the same; 1 The composition of the presentinvention com;- prises generally in addition to the chlorinated organic material; a solvent releasing agent and an organic solvent and particularly applicable in the field of" surface" protection of wood surfaces; boti'r previously untreated or raw" wood surfaces and preliminarily treatedor filled wood surfaces; whi-lehaving wide application in other fields ofsurfaceprotection; such as varnished shellacked or painted areas, linoleum, orother" compositionmaterials. Because" of its property of providing high friction on the surface-towhiclr it is applied while havinghigh resistance to frictional and otherwear'; the composition is especially: suited to use as a protecton for floor? surfaces: It-is: a particular feature oftlie presentn composition that upon. application to asurface to: be. treated; thecomposition dries; with. im a relatively short. timewithout bufling or other polishing? action to a1 high: lustre, leaving: a. glossy, hard; non-slippery" surface of substan tially: Water and moisture proof character.

- Compositions claiming the" properties: ofthe compositiom of: the: present invention: have here-- toforer. been: proposecli Such: compositions gen enally comprise. a natural; waxdispersed im an aqueous medium or dissolvediinasolvent. These materials; when: applied; to: surfaces; of wood. paint, orlinoleum, and:v the like; are said to dry within a. short: time to a; non-tacky; glossyfilm.

The i thusrtreated' surfaces do not requireifurtlierr bufiing or rubbin to, impart: a. desired: degree-1 of. gloss.- thereto; and. hence, such. commsitions are. known as SBIfrQOliShiIlg waxes.

'Ilhe; heretofore proposed;self-polishing; wax: compositions; of. the aqueous. type: have serious; limitations. in use, especially when; applied. to, unpainted or unvarnished surfaces. of. wood, such; as hardwood flooring; The. principal difliculty' involved arises from distortion and swelling of. the; surface striae of the wood resulting from. absorption. of: the water inthe polishing;- composition. Such. distortion. of; the surface; renders. the surface grain particularly vulnerable. to abrasive frictional v contact such" as is; had" from of the wood surfaces.

= Such dispersing; agent in the deposited filmv acts.

to decrease water repellen'cy; of such film and on contact with water; the wood' surface suffers further detrimental: swelling: and. softening,v

It has; been' proposed: to apply a. natural wax;

3 composition or a natural wax. combined... with.

various synthetic, Waxes in a. semi-solidi 01. piaste form to wood surfaces, such. as. floors, in order to avoid the" presence of. water to any. substantial degree andtl'ius prevent damageto the grain This method; has the (115.7 advantage of requiring; much time and extra mechanical treatment". by bufilng or polishing. to. obtain a uniform coating; since: the coatingmust; berbuifed orrruloloedv to? obtain; the desired degree; off gloss, Iir additiom both. of the heretofore; proposed types of polishes mentioned above; pose mess thedisa'dvantage of requiring expensive. natural waxesas: the basic; ingredient of such. compositions: Such: natural wax materials, in, addition tosbeing expensive; are cfgenera-lly nonuniform quality irr view oftheir" natural origin. and thus requiremodification of formulae for: each batch used;

It has a-l so been proposed to dissolve a suitable synthetics waist-like material, such as soliif chlorinated parafilir wax; in an organic solvent and to employ suclr solution as a surfacepro tectingr agent; the composition having the ad uantagei off being: water-freel It has been foundi. however; that -fi'lmszofi such; materials: do not dry tack-free within. a; suificientli short time to; render their use: practical. in the. self-polishing waxfieldiofapplication.

Theipresentfi invention; has as. one: of its; 0b? jeci'sr the: provision. off a salt-polishing; surface.-.- pneserringe composition. which; is entirely none aqueous im characters and? which. thus; may 1185 appliedi to unuarnished; or: unpaintedi woodi suniacesl withoutcausing distortion; or the snrlaoez striaelofitheisrain.otfthezwoom.

Another." object! of the; invention. is, to emploir inexpensive. wairslikel materials: of synthetic origin; easilw obtainable in; entirelu uniform: qualityi.

. An important object at the: inventiom is; to.

provide a composition which, when applied to a surface, will dry to self-polished lustre in a very short period of time.

A further object of the invention is to provide or other flooring material, presents a glossy, nontacky, durable, high friction, surface film which is not a hazard to life and limb of persons walking upon its surface.

Other objects will appear from the details of the invention as presented hereinafter.

In accordance with the present invention, 1 have discovered that a highly halogenated or ganic material, particularly a highly chlorinated, high molecular weight hydrocarbon material and especially a highly chlorinated paraflinic hydrocarbon, such as a chlorinated paraflin having molecules containing from 17 to 35 carbon atoms in the chain, suitably an average of 24 carbons, and containing above 50% of chemically'combined chlorine and particularly from 65% to 75% chlorine, when combined with a suitable compatible solvent releasing agent and contained in'fa solvent for both the chlorinated material and'the solvent releasing agent, which solvent preferably comprises ahydrocarbon liquid hav ing a high fi'ash point and which is substantially non-toxic to warm-blooded animals, provides a non-toxic, fast-drying, surface coating composition which, when spreadv on a surface, dries to a glossy, hard, durable, high friction water repellentsurface in a very short time of therorder of minutes or less. I j As-solvent releasing agents, I prefer to employ minor amounts of synthetic, resinous bodies characterized in part by having in the monomer state the empirical formula -H2C=CRR', wherein R iseither methyl or hydrogen, R is butyl carboxy or isobutyl carboxy (COOC4H9), when R is methyl and phenyl or substituted phenyl when Rishydrogen; These materials are preferablyemployed in a partially polymerized or thermo plastic state, it being desirableto incorporate such materialsin the compositions of this inventionat the stage of polymerization, where sufli-,

cient eiiectis had upon solvent release as evi-- dence'cl by comparison of the drying times of! comparative compositions withand without the addition of the resinous material. Thus, it has" effect upon the drying of the polish on a wood surface", and those materials having a softening point appreciably above 150 C. are too insoluble in the solvent to have an optimum effect in the In general and pursuant to the' objects of this invention, I prefer to employ a composition.

resinous solvent releasing agent soluble touthe extent of at least 10% in the herein described solvents, such as a" high-flash hydrocarbon'liquid.

' The described thermoplastic polymerized materials incorporated herein are designated as solvent releasing agents as this is the best present explanation of their action now available. This designation is not to be understood as limiting the scope of the invention, however, as the actual function of these materials is not presently completely understood.

For example, I may employ as the resinous polymeric body a resinous polymerization product of substantially pure styrene or copolymerization products of styrene and styrene homologues. Such resinous products are preferably polymerized to such an extent that the softening points fall within the temperature range of about 100 C. to 150 0. when tested according to the above noted standard. Such materials may, if desired, be modified with plasticizers such as alkyl esters of aromatic acids or the like in order to alter their solubility in the particular type of solvent employed, or to depress the softening temperature thereof in order that it fall within the desired range, or to improve their compatibility with the chlorinated hydrocarbon materials. However, of the substances derived from styrene or styrene homologues. I prefer to use polymerized substantially pure styrene material.

In place of the polymerized styrene material or polymerized styrene homologues, I may use polymerized thermoplastic acrylic acid esters, such as a polymerized normal butyl methacrylate or isobutyl methacrylate.

As noted above, the solvents preferably used in the compositions of this invention compriseliquid hydrocarbon materials or the like, preferably those of the type known as high-flash and including especially hydrocarbon solvents having a fiash point in the range of about 25 to 45 0..

(about to F. as determined by the closed cup method, see A. S. T. M. specification D56-36) Of such hydrocarbon solvents, I prefer to use substantially saturated aliphatic materials, such ashigh-flash napthas and the like, having fiash points substantially within the designated range.

These materials are preferred because of the substantial absence of toxicity of their vapors and are especially desirable in applications of the invention where absence of toxicity is essential,

such as domestic use or in industrial establish-- ments where hand application is, employed.

. In some applications of the present invention, however, particularly those where the evaporating solvent vapors do not come in contact with It will be appreciated that while with respect to the chlorinated solvents, no fire hazard exists,

the hydrocarbon solvents, if of a too volatile char-- acter, present definite danger'of fire andeitplosion andhence, my preference for the flash point range as given above. In addition, solvents within the stated range, while evaporating with sumcient speed to produce the desired fast-drying property, are also preferred since solvents much lower in fiash point, in addition to presenting a fire hazard, tend in their extremelyrapid evap oration to cool the surface treated well below the dew'point of the'moisture in the ambientatmos phere, thus permitting the deposit of liq'uid'wa-- ter in minute droplets upon the drying wax sur-' glossy surface desired cannot face whereby the be achieved.

- The chlorinated material and the resinous plats--- --:tic material may be :dissolved in .an amount of "one. rof the :above type isoluents to an iextent combined solids sin the :solution .are .equal rto foetween about 3.15% :and 235% :of1the :total composi- -tion. .I-neeneral, however, and .for optimum results I have foundiit preferable atgo employ :total solids .of between 20% and 27%, ideally about 22% 'to'25'%. The ratio of the weight of chlorinated material -.to molymeric .rbodies is preferably within the range of 3:1 to 5:1. The two ingredients maybe dissolved-in the same'body of solvent simultaneously with no detriment tothecompos- .ite filmsubsequently deposited therefrom or they may be dissolved in separate portion orsolvent and the solutionssubsequently Combined without altering theproperties of the film deposi'te'cl'there- "from. Also, "I may filter .either or Tbc'tn solutions separately orthe solution of the two ingredients together prior to applying the same to a surface in order to remove therefrom any foreign matter or insoluble portions of either solid component of the solutions and to improve the lustre and gloss of the supported film.

The solution of the mixture of solid chlorinated paraflin Wax and resinous polymeric bodies may be applied to wood surfaces or other solid surfaces by spraying, wiping, brushing, or other convenient means to deposit thereon a relatively thin, preferably even coating. Such coating will dry or setup to a tack-free condition within a relatively short time of the order of a fraction of an hour and in preferred cases, less than 20 minutes. The surface obtained has high gloss, a high coefficient of friction, and durability greater than known aqueous wax dispersions.

In order more particularly to point out means by which the present invention may be practiced, the following specific examples are offered:

Example I 6 parts by weight of a solid chlorinated paraffin Wax containing approximately 70% of chemically combined chlorine are dissolved 24.- parts by weight of a naptha substantially entirely of an aliphatic character having a flash point of about 100 F., and after solution of the chlorinated parafiln wax is effected, the material is filtered. Subsequent to the filtration, 2 parts by weight of thermoplastic polymerized isoloutyl methacrylate are dissolved in the solution of the chlorinated parafiin wax. Mild heating with agitation aids in effecting complete solution of the polymer within a short time. The solution thus formed is applied to an unvarnished and unpainted, smooth-finished, filled, wood surface by brushing and is found to dry tack-free within a period of about 20 minutes. The polished surface thus obtained has a very good gloss and. possesses a high coefficient of friction relative to ordinary wax materials; the high coefficient of friction makes it difiicult to cause slipping of cloth or leather materials in contact with the surface.

7 Example II 19 parts by weight of a chlorinated paraffin wax containing about 70% of chemically combined chlorine are dissolved in 77.1 parts by weight of a hydrocarbon solvent substantially entirely of an aliphatic character and having a fiash point of about 100 F. The solution thus formed is filtered and subsequently 3.9 parts by weight of thermoplastic, polymerized, normal butyl methacrylate are dissolved therein. The solution thus formed is applied to an unvarnished and unpainted, smooth-finished, hardwood surface by i8 :brushing. Withinrarperiodzof about 12.0 minutes. athe ifilm :dcposited upon :the wood :surface ihflS dried :toia itack-fnee, glossy condition, presenting a surface having the same friction characteristics aszthatzinEExampleI.

Example III 19 parts by weight of ;a chlorinated paraffin wax :containing about {10% of chemically comibined chlorineiare dissolvedz-inflfl parts'of aihigh- .fla'sh naptha having .a flash-point of about ElQD 5E'. vandshaving ubstantiallycomplete aliphaticrcharacter. .After dissolving thechlorinated paraflin, "ithesolutionis .filtered andel parts .by weight Ofgfi polymer obtained by the ;polymerization :of sub .stantially pure styrene, the polymer having .a softening point within the range of .to .150? .C., are dissolved in the chlorinated paraffin wax solution. Heating aids in efiectinglcomplete solution of the polymerized styrene material in the solution of the chlorinated paraflin wax. The resulting solution applied to a smooth-finished surface presents a smooth, glossy surface which dries to a tack-free condition within a period of about 20 minutes. The surface possesses substantially the same non-skid properties as observed in Example I.

In some instances the use of conventional paint drying agents of the type well-known in the art, such as the heavy metal resinates of fatty acids, examples of which are lead naphthenate or cobalt linoleate or combinations of the two, may enhance the drying properties of the composition. The following example is an illustration of this application.

Example IV 19 parts by weight of a solid chlorinated paraflin wax containing approximately '70 of chemically combined chlorine are dissolved in a highflash naptha having a flash point of about 100 F. The resulting solution is filtered. 4 parts by weight of a synthetic resin obtained by co-polymerizing styrene and styrene homologues, the polymerization product having been modified with an alkyl ester of an aromatic acid in such a manner that its softening point is about C., is dissolved in the same solvent as that used for the solution of the chlorinated paraffin wax. A drying agent is prepared by combining 10 parts by weight of lead naphthenate with 1 part by weight of cobalt linoleate and 4 parts of weight of this mixture dissolved in the same type solvent as that used for this chlorinated paraffin wax. The total amount of the combined solvent used to dissolve all 3 ingredients is equal to 7'7 parts. The three solutions are combined and the resulting solution, when applied to smooth-finished, unvarnished and unpainted, wood surfaces by brushing present a non-tacky, glossy film within a period of about 20 minutes. Marks made by the footwear of persons walking upon such surface film after the drying period are easily wiped off with a dry cloth. The surface possesses substantially the same non-skid properties as observed in Example I.

While there have been described various embodiments of the invention, the methods and products described are not intended to be understood as limiting the scope of the invention as it is realized that changes therewithin are possible and it is further intended that each element recited in any of the following claims is to be understood as referring to all equivalent elements for accomplishing substantially the same results in substantially the same or equivalent manner, it

being intended to cover the invention broadly in whatever form its principle may be utilized.

'What is claimed is: 1. A self-polishing floor wax composition comprising a volatile substantially saturated aliphatic high flash hydrocarbon naphtha solvent having a flash point within the range of 80 to7110 F., having dissolved therein between about and of solids consisting essentially of chlorinated paraiiin wax,-comprising paramn wax havingbetween 17 and 35 carbon atoms containing from to of chemically combined chlorine and a resin having a softening point in the range of about to C. selected from the group consisting of a polystyrene; a polybutyl methacrylate and a polyisobutyl methacrylate, the ratio of said chlorinated wax to said resin being in the approximate range of from 5:1 to 3:1.

2. The composition as defined in claim 1 wherein the resin is polystyrene obtained by polymerization of substantially pure styrene.

3. The composition as defined in claim 1 where-V in the resin is a methacrylate obtained by polymerization of isobutyl methacrylate.

HELEN P. BRUSH. H

REFERENCES CITED I The following references are of record in the file of this patent: f 

1. A SELF-POLISHING FLOOR WAX COMPOSITION COMPRISING A VOLATILE SUBSTANTIALLY SATURATED ALIPHATIC HIGH FLASH HYDROCARBON NAPHTHA SOLVENT HAVING A FLASH POINT WITHIN THE RANGE OF 80 TO 110* F., HAVING DISSOLVED THEREIN BETWEEN ABOUT 15 AND 35% OF SOLIDS CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF CHLORINATED PARAFFIN WAX, COMPRISING PARAFFIN WAX HAVING BETWEEN 17 AND 35 CARBON ATOMS CONTAINING FROM 50 TO 75% OF CHEMICALLY COMBINED CHLORINE AND A RESIN HAVING A SOFTENING POINT IN THE RANGE OF ABOUT 100 TO 150* C. SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF A POLYSTYRENE, A POLYBUTYL METHACRYLATE AND A POLYISOBUTYL METHACRYLATE, THE RATIO OF SAID CHLORINATED WAX TO SAID RESIN BEING IN THE APPROXIMATE RANGE OF FROM 5:1 TO 3:1. 